Maxime Carlot Korman
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Maxime Carlot Korman (born 26 April 1941) is a
Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
an politician, formerly serving as the speaker of the Parliament and formerly as acting president. He served as the
prime minister of Vanuatu The prime minister of Vanuatu is the head of government of the Republic of Vanuatu. The office of Prime Minister was created under the Constitution of Vanuatu upon the country's independence in 1980, with independence campaigner Walter Lini b ...
for nearly five years, first from 16 December 1991 to 21 December 1995 and again from 23 February 1996 to 30 September 1996. He was a member of the
Union of Moderate Parties The Union of Moderate Parties (french: Union des partis moderés) is a liberal political party in Vanuatu founded in 1981. At the last general election, held on 22 January 2016, they won 9.73% of the vote and 6 seats. It is currently headed by Ish ...
during his terms as prime minister, but now leads the
Vanuatu Republican Party The Vanuatu Republican Party (french: Parti Républicain de Vanuatu, bi, Ripablikan Pati blong Vanuatu) is a centrist political party in Vanuatu. At the last 2016 Vanuatuan general election, general elections, held on 22 January 2016, they won ...
. He was the first Speaker of Parliament after independence, from July 1980 to November 1983, and also served in that capacity just before independence."Veteran Speaker removed"
''Vanuatu Daily Post'', 7 September 2011


Political career

Korman became Prime Minister following the Union of Moderate Parties's victory in the 1991 election, which came after the split in the ruling Vanua'aku Party. He was the first
francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
Prime Minister of Vanuatu, following the
anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
Walter Lini Walter Hadye Lin̄i (1942 – 21 February 1999) was a Raga Anglican priest and politician who was the first Prime Minister of Vanuatu, from independence in 1980 to 1991. He was born at Agatoa village, Pentecost Island. On his mother's side, ...
's government throughout the 1980s. Korman's
foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
marked a distinct break with Lini's. He "reversed
he country's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
unequivocal support for the Kanak National Liberation Front in
New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
, its systematic enmity towards France, its flirting with radical regimes, and its openly
anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...
nuclear-free Pacific stance."Miles, William F.S. Miles, ''Bridging Mental Boundaries in a Postcolonial Microcosm: Identity and Development in Vanuatu'', Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998, , pp.25-7 Following the 1995 election Korman was replaced as Prime Minister by
Serge Vohor Rialuth Serge Vohor (born 23 April 1955) is a Vanuatuan politician. He hails from the largest island of Vanuatu, Espiritu Santo, from Port Olry. He was a member of the Union of Moderate Parties, a centrist political party, until 2022. When his p ...
, a dissident leader of his own party. Two months later Korman was able to accumulate enough support to oust Vohor and regain control of the party and the premiership, but after seven months he was again deposed in a 27-22 no confidence vote and replaced by Vohor. Korman was never again able to regain leadership of the Union of Moderate Parties. He had also served as
Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
from 1993 to 1995. Following his terms as Prime Minister, Korman broke away from the Union of Moderate Parties to form the
Vanuatu Republican Party The Vanuatu Republican Party (french: Parti Républicain de Vanuatu, bi, Ripablikan Pati blong Vanuatu) is a centrist political party in Vanuatu. At the last 2016 Vanuatuan general election, general elections, held on 22 January 2016, they won ...
, which he still leads. Following the July 2004 election, Korman became Deputy Prime Minister under Vohor, but was replaced a month later when a national coalition took office. He was Minister of Infrastructure and Public Utilities for a time, but was removed from this post and replaced by
Edward Natapei Edward Nipake Natapei Tuta Fanua`araki (17 July 1954 – 28 July 2015) was a Vanuatuan politician. He was the prime minister of Vanuatu on two occasions, and was previously the minister of Foreign Affairs briefly in 1991, the acting president of ...
in July 2005. Korman and the Republican Party remained in the governing coalition, and Maxime Carlot Korman eventually became Minister of Lands. In July 2007, Maxime Carlot Korman and his son were faced with corruption allegations involving land deals, which Korman strongly denied. Following the September 2008 general election, Korman was a candidate for the post of Prime Minister in the parliamentary vote held on 22 September, but was defeated by Natapei, receiving 25 votes against 27 for Natapei. However, he was elected to be the Speaker of Parliament. On 18 August 2009, when the term of the President of Vanuatu expired, Korman became acting president in his capacity as Speaker of Parliament until the election of a successor on 2 September 2009. George Wells replaced him as Speaker in January 2010, before resigning in December, whereupon Korman was elected anew to the position. In September 2011, after he had "rigidly applied standing orders to stop the Kilman ">Sato_Kilman.html" ;"title="Sato Kilman">Kilman government bringing in a supplementary budget", he was removed as Speaker by the government's parliamentary majority. Ironically, as "Senior Member of Parliament" (Father of the House), he was then called upon to preside over the election of a new Speaker, which he reportedly "readily agreed" to. The government's candidate, Dunstan Hilton, was elected unopposed. A few days later, the government introduced a motion to suspend Korman from Parliament altogether for the remainder of its term, which
Radio New Zealand International RNZ Pacific or Radio New Zealand Pacific, sometimes abbreviated to RNZP, is a division of Radio New Zealand and the official international broadcasting station of New Zealand. It broadcasts a variety of news, current affairs and sports programm ...
described as the government's way of "punish
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for his controversial rulings". The motion was passed by twenty-six votes out of fifty-two. Korman announced he would appeal to the courts.


Personal life

Korman was born in Erakor, a village near
Port Vila Port Vila (french: Port-Vila), or simply Vila (; french: Vila; bi, Vila ), is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It is located on the island of Efate. Its population in the last census (2009) was 44,040, an increase of 35% on the pr ...
(not to be confused with the
island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
of the same name), and is of mixed European and Melanesian descent. On his father's side, he is descended from a chief of Erakor who married a Samoan woman. He attended both Francophone and Anglophone schools in his youth. His wife is from
Mele Mele () is a ''Comune'' (Municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about west of Genoa. Mele borders the following municipalities: Genoa, Masone Masone ( or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the ...
. He worked with linguist Jean-Claude Rivierre to produce a wordlist of the South Efate language in the 1960s. He added the traditional name "Korman" to his name Maxime Carlot when he became Prime Minister.


References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlot Korman, Maxime Presidents of Vanuatu Prime Ministers of Vanuatu Speakers of the Parliament of Vanuatu 1941 births Living people Union of Moderate Parties politicians Vanuatu Republican Party politicians Members of the Parliament of Vanuatu People from Shefa Province